National Project Healthy Communities
More than 250 Roma Health Mediators have been working in 265 marginalised Roma localities across Slovakia. Their role is to improve the health situation of Roma in the poor and segregated Roma localities through so- called “health mediation”, a specific type of community work specialized in health awareness-raising, breaking communication barriers, and providing psycho-social support for people living in such environments. Based on previous experience, their efforts are being redirected to tackle the more upstream social determinants of health in marginalised communities such as poor public and household infrastructure, poverty, or exclusionary and self/exclusionary ideologies and practices involved both Roma and non-Roma. This initiative is part of the “National Project Healthy Communities” funded by the European Social Fund and the European Fund for Regional Development between 2017-2019. The project is implemented by Healthy Regions, a state contributory organisation established by Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic. An important element of the project is its innovative cross-cutting and integrating character. Through employment of people from a target group and specialized education are all field activities focused on the improving of the health of disadvantaged groups, especially marginalized Roma communities.
Healthy Regions took a participatory approach and work together with partner hospitals to improve their health outcomes by enabling their better access to the healthcare.
“In Healthy Regions we believe, that the Roma health mediators working in hospitals will bring positive results for both, Roma people and our partner hospitals, and that the competent people and society realize the benefits of having such a job position institutionalised. From a long term perspective we hope to see more Roma staff in the healthcare not only as mediators but also as doctors, nurses, pharmacists, or physiotherapists.”
References:
Belak A, Madarasova Geckova A, van Dijk JP, Reijneveld SA (2018) Why don’t segregated Roma do more for their health? An explanatory framework from an ethnographic study in Slovakia. International Journal of Public Health 63(9):1123-1131 doi:10.1007/s00038-018-1134-2
Cook B, Wayne GF, Valentine A, Lessios A, Yeh E (2013) Revisiting the evidence on health and health care disparities among the Roma: a systematic review 2003–2012.International Journal of Public Health:1-27
Diez Roux AV (2012) Conceptual approaches to the study of health disparities. Annual Review of Public Health 33:41-58
Dressler WW, Oths KS, Gravlee CC (2005) Race and Ethnicity in Public Health Research:Models to Explain Health Disparities. Annual Review of Anthropology 34(Oct):231-252
Kolarcik P, Geckova AM, Orosova O, van Dijk JP, Reijneveld SA (2009) To what extent does socioeconomic status explain differences in health between Roma and non-Roma adolescents in Slovakia? Social Science & Medicine 68(7):1279-1284
Janevic T, Jankovic J, Bradley E (2012) Socioeconomic position, gender, and inequalities in self-rated health between Roma and non-Roma in Serbia. International Journal of Public Health 57(1):49-55